Amusement device



R. F. DOWNEY.

AMUSEMENT nEv'lcE.

APPLICATION FILE'pSEPT. 16. I92l.

Patented oct. 24, 1921.

Rthard P IIIUWTHEH` n. F. D owNEY. yAIVIUSEMENT DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT-16, 1921.

1,432,746, APatented out. 24, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Richard F-Dnwne Patented @et Z4, 1922.

aan

RICHARD F. IDO-vifNTIY,l OF MLWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNQR OF ONE-HALF T0 i WILLIAM' J'. CARY, 0F MILWAUKEE', VIISCONSIN.

AMSMENT nnvon Application filed september 16, 19ml serial no. 5013055:

To @ZZ whom it may concern." l

Be it lrnown that l', RICHARD l?. DOWNEY, a citizen of the VUnited States, and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and `State of lVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Amusement Devices; and l do hereby declare that the following is al Jfull, clear, and exact description thereof.

lty invention relates to a newA and im proved amusement device which is in the nature of a sweep which is pivotedfto swing or rotate about central standard and is adapted to carry a child supporting device at its outer end.

The general object ofthe invention is to provide a device of this type which will have a number. of adjustments' by which it may be readily adapted for amusing babies and small children in' a variety'` of different ways.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of inexpensive construe tion which includes a mechanically driven sweep provided with means for` supporting a small child and carrying him after the manner of a merry-go-round.

illith the above and other objects in view which will be apparent from the following description the device lconsists of certainV structural details which are shown in the accompanying drawings and set forth in the claims hereunto appended.

In the dra-wings:n

Figure l is a side elevation of my' invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the central standard which is a' part of 'the invention7 and Figures il to 9 inclusive are detailed views showing various parts of the invention;

Referring by reference characters to the drawings the invention comprises a central hollow standard 1 secured to a suitable base 2 and provided at its upper end with a bearing member 3 which carries ball bearings 4L on which a head 5 is rotatably supported. The head 5 is provided with suitable trunnions 6 on which a sweep 7' is pivoted.v The sweep has preferably a split bearing 8 at its outer end which-is adjustable by means of a threaded bolt 9 and in which any suitable training or amusement device may be detachably secured.

The device whichA I have shown secured in the bearing 8 by way of illustration consists of a* bracket 10 which carries support 11v consisting of a seat 1.2 havingv ai back 13 andv the'sides 14. Itwill be readily seen thata baby may be placed on the seat 12 and maybe tied in if necessary and the sweep may be rotated about the central standard by means hereinafter described.

For the purpose of supporting the outer end; of thek sweep and the weightv of the seat and child carried thereby, a counter-balancing spring is provided which is secured at one end to a pin 16 and at itsother end to an L shaped arm 1f? secured' to the head 5; For the purpose of adjusting the'efective strength of the counter balance to correspond to thev weight carried at the end of the sweep, the pin 16 is adjustably mounted inthe longitudinal slot 18 and al plurality of notches 19I are provided in the arm 17. A spring motor is provided for rotating the headl and the sweep carried thereby when desired. This motor includes a coil spring 20 secured at one endI to a shaft 21 which is journalled centrally of the standard and extends upwardly through the head 5, the other end of the spring 20 being secured as shown at 22 to a disc 23 Iiournalled on the shaft 21 and heldI against longitudinal movement thereon by a pin 24. A dog 25 is pivotally mounted on the standard 1 and adapted to engage the disc 23 to prevent its rotation with respectl to the standard when the spring motor is used. This dogv is provided withA a handle 26 which in the position shown in Figures 4 and 5 holds the pawl iny engagement with the disc by gravity. V'Vhen the handle 2G is moved to the left as shown in Figure 1 the disc 23'is released andi the spring motor is rendered inoperative for a purpose hereinafter described. A handle 27 is secured tothe upper end of the shaft 21 for the purpose of winding up the spring and a spring latch 28 is provided in the head' 5 for locking the handle -27 and shaft 2l against a return movement.

When the.pawl 25 has been thrown into engagement with the disc and the spring wound up the torsional force of the latter will be exerted through the latch 28 and head 5 to rotate the' latter and the Vsweep which carries the training support 11 at its outer end. In order to prevent the sweep from revolving too rapidly a device in the nature of a governor is provided which consists of a weight 29 supported by a flexible cord BO from the outer end of the-arm 17. A post 3l is secured to the base a short distance outside of the end of the arm and as the sweep revolves the centrifugal force will carry the weight 29 outside of the post and the cord will be wrapped around the post thus checking the movement of the sweep. In the normal operation of the sweep therefore, under influence of the spring motor the movement thereof will be checked at each revolution thus providing a novel and interesting amusement for very young children. A scale 32 may be provided on the sweep which in connection with a pointer 33 secured to the head 5 may indicate the weight of the child carried by the support 11, the scale being` calibrated so as to indicate the correct weight with the spring 'l5 in a predetermined position. The device when used in connection with the spring motor is primarily an amusement device. When it is desired to use the device to train the child to walk the motor is disconnected by moving the arm 26 to the left asshown in Figure l and any suitable guiding device may be substituted for the seat carried by the outer end of the sweep. The sweep will then be freely revoluble about the shaft Q1. lVhen the device is used in this manner it is desirable to provide means for preventing a backward movement which might cause the4 child to fall backward.. For this purpose the bearing member 3 may be provided with a flange which forms an annular groove 34, the bottom of the groove being provided with ratchet teeth at its outer end with a tooth 3T at each side thereof. The arm 36 is loosely pivoted so as to be swung into a position at either side ard within which the spring motor is located be filled with grease of rather stiff consistency, the pendulum governor may be dispensed with. The slowly yielding resistance of the grease will permit the spring to gradually unwind and yet if it is of the proper amount and consistency, it will retard the movement suficiently for practical purposes.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided a device which is comparatively inexpensive and yet may be used for amusing and training very young children in a great variety of ways. l/Vhile A ratchet arm 36 is piv-v otally connected to the sweep T and provided y I have shown and described a number of ways in which it may be adjusted and ay number of uses to which it it adapted, it will be readily seen that other ways of using it may be devised and other attachments may be provided for it. The invention therefore is not limited to the structural details and uses set forth but comprises all equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention l.V A device of the character described comprising a hollow standard, a shaft journalled centrally thereof and projecting from its upper end, a disc journal'led on the shaft within the standard, a coil spring surrounding the shaft and having one end secured thereto, the other end of the spring being secured to the disc, means for-locking the disc to the standard, means for rotating the shaft to wind up the spring when the disc is so locked, a sweep rotatably supported by the standard and journalled to the upper end of said shaft, and a ratchet device for locking the sweep to the shaft when the latter is rotated under influence of the spring.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a standard, a head rotatably supported thereon, a sweep pivotally connected to the head and having a supporting device secured to its outer end, a spring motor, means for operatively connecting the motor tothe head to rotate the same, an arm depending and extending outwardly from the head on the opposite side of its axis from said supportinfr device, a counter balancing spring adjustaly connecting the arm with the sweep, a post mounted outside the path of said arm and a flexibly supported weight carried by the arm and cooperating with said post to check the travel of the sweep intermittently at each revolution.

3. A device of the character described comprising a hollow standard, a head rotatably mounted at the upper end thereof,l shaft extending through the head and through the standard longitudinally thereof, a coil spring surrounding the shaft and having one end secured thereto, a disc Vjournalled on said shaft and having the other end of the spring secured thereto, means for optionally locking said disc to the standard, means for rotating the shaft in one direction with respect to the head to wind up the spring, means for preventing reverse rotation thereof, a sweep carried by the head and means for securing a supporty to the outer e'nd of the sweep.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereuntoset my hand at li/Iilwaulree,

in the county of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin. 

